Should Inter Miami punish Suarez, other Herons involved in Leagues Cup brawl? | OneFootball

Seattle adds Leagues Cup to collection, scuffle mars triumph

Club Internacional de Futbol Miami should immediately apologize for the shameful actions of Luis Suarez and a group of his teammates Sunday after losing the 2025 Leagues Cup championship Sunday in Seattle. Not only should Inter Miami apologize, but it should also immediately suspend Suarez for the remainder of the Major League Soccer regular season and fine him the equivalent of his salary for those games. Other Miami players involved in the melee should be punished according to their actions.

The Seattle Sounders beat Los Garzas 3-0, adding the Leagues Cup to a trophy collection that includes the CONCACAF Champions Cup (2022), two MLS Cups (2016, 2019), the Supporters' Shield (2014) and four U.S. Open Cups. With the win, the team in Rave Green became the only club to have won every major trophy available to U.S.-based first-division club teams.

Inter Miami is a much younger organization, having begun play in 2020, but its audacious ownership signaled its global ambitions in 2023 by signing eight-time Balon d'Or winner Lionel Messi and his former Barcelona teammates, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. They added Luis Suarez, another teammate from Messi's Barcelona days, before the 2024 season, and in December, the Herons hired Javier Mascherano -- who played with Messi at Barcelona and on Argentina's national team -- as coach despite no experience managing at the club level. A few weeks ago, Los Garzas acquired Rodrigo De Paul, Messi's teammate on La Albiceleste.

Miami added all of these world-class players to its roster despite MLS' famously draconian salary restrictions, with a little help from the league and its sponsors. Needless to say, some eyebrows were raised. The Herons and their famous pink and black kit suddenly became an international brand, the first MLS team to really attract worldwide.

Of course, with the league's most recognizable, expensive and -- arguably -- talented side in MLS come expectations. Inter Miami is built to compete for championships, to lift trophies. Just weeks after Messi arrived in June 2023, the Herons won their first major competition: the inaugural Leagues Cup championship.